,;.l','l i'!?!:ii>i'tiit,';-|(if,!i'!i:H-4r'''" 



Biiitlia«W.ii/<liiV. f (i'of.i T< % 



E440 



.C835 







^: 



<^ 




'' .v-^ 



•o>- -^.^ 


v' 











'% 



^^ 












^ 


















-^. 



-'•.»" «G 



.0^ ^.-^^-^c 



°o 



'\ 






'bV" 




V . t • . 



'<^^ 



^^^.»- .-Ji. 












i-""^^ 



-'^"-V^. 



COSMOPOLITAN IDEAS ON THE UNION. 



When that strange mixture, a northern man with southern princi- 
ples, and a southern ina« with northern principles, attempts to thrust 
himself before the public, he incurs the hazard of running ao-ainst every- 
body, and pleasing nobody. The only way in such case is to move 
forward in the straight line of truth. In this even there is danger that 
one's complacency may be disturbed; simple-minded straitforvvardness 
being unfashionable. In the present sectional and party ferment, truth 
itself is liable to be taken as contraband into the court of one or the 
other of the parties ; and it is questionable whether a neutral flag can 
protect the properly so as to save it fiom condemnation. 

If misapprehension founded on jealousy could be abated, and could 
hollow complaint be separated from actual grievance so that the degree 
of each might stand disclosed, little difficulty would be in the way of cor- 
rect conclusion. In addition, could men in all sections be influenced to 
look with reconciliation upon what must happen under the laws of popu- 
lation and subsistence, and thus ma'le to forego their eff"orts to prevent 
what cannot be prevented ; peace might soon be restored on the basis 
of rationality. This is a time for reason. It is no time for resentment, 
for mi-sapprehension ; and least of all is it a time for timidity to under- 
tjike its accustomed patchwork. If the people of the Union cannot 
look things in the face truthfully, and learn to discriminate between 
injustice and hollow pretense of aggression, then will there be much 
trouble in the future, and any delay in settlement will only add to its 
complications. 

Are we in tlie midst of an "irrepressible conflict," incapable of being 
assuaged ; or, if assuaged temporarily, liable to break out again upon 
every ferment of a national election ? In the settlement of this ques- 
tion, any one who allows liimself to be influenced by timid apprehen- 
sion will bring but a poor ingredient to the rescue. Whoever continues 
his contribution to the sectional or party contumely heretofore and now 
afloat, will do no better. If men in all sections will place themselves in 
the altitude of saying, " I will seek to stand on the true ground — I will 
endeavor to do right," there will be no lasting diflSculty. 

It was appreliended and prophesied by some of those who framed 
the government of the Union that slavery or involuntary servitude would 
be tlie cause of working its dissolution. The prophesy wasmad<', not so 
much from the supposed incompatibility of interests between the slave 



2 .<^'«'^ 

and free States as from sectional jealousies and strife, liable to be fanned 
by party contumely into maddened misapprehension. 

A fruitful source of contention has grown out of the efforts of the 
South to preserve the balance of power. Desiiable as this might have 
been, a glance at the incidents in the flow of population at once shows 
its impossibility. Not territory, but population has been wanting to make 
slave States. In 1850, including Califoniia, four-ninths only of the 
territory organized into States were free. Population stood in an 
inverse ratio; 13,432,245 inhabiting the free Stites, and 9,654,631 occu- 
pying the slave States. Another incident worthy to be taken into ac- 
count is the passage of population from the slave to the free States. 
Estimating the excess of population emigrating North, and its offspring, 
not less than ten or twelve representatives in Congress had been taken 
from the South, and placed to the side of the North or account of it. 

It is mentioned in the compendium of the census of 1850, that " there 
are 726,450 persons living in slave States who are natives of free 
States, and 232,1 12 persons living in free States who are natives of slave 
States." The truth, as shown by the tables in detail, is exactly the re- 
verse. The 726,450 were born in the South and had emigrated to the 
free States. Of this number, Virginia had contributed about 184,000 — 
Kentucky 150,000— North Carolina about 64,000 — Missouri near 20,000 
— Maryland 72,000 — Delaware near 7,000, and Tennessee over 50,000. 
If the whole emigration from the slave to the free States since the adoption 
of the Federal Constitution, together with its offspring, be taken into 
the account, there will be found near two millions of people of southern 
extraction now inhabiting the free States. This equals half the slave 
population of the South. It exceeds by several hundred thousands the 
slaveholders and their families, including all persons having proprietor- 
ship in slavery. 

By a careful analys's of the census statistics it will be perceived that 
the flow of the southern non-slaveholding population has been to the 
west and north-west — that slaves, in a nearly equal ratio, have gone to the 
west and south-west. Under this drain. South Carolina has increased 
her white population but fifty per cent, in sixty years, whilst her black 
population has nearly trebled. It now remains for the statesmen of that 
State to consider whether they have not too much indulged in the Aris- 
totelian doctrine of " caste and class," and whether by so doing, the 
political, or governing element has not been too far theorized out of the 
State. Had that State adopted the policy of retaining its white popu- 
lation, the same as Maryland, and put it to the like useful pursuits of 
commerce and mechanism, perhaps she would now have felt her strength, 
and been as little inclined to contumacy. She is now overshadowed 
with a black cloud in the character of her servile population. Her 
pride and chivalry remain, but her strength has measurably departed. 
Perhaps it may be well for South Carolina to consider whether it will 
be best to repudiate that union and that strength, which may still be her 
strength ; and whether she will act wisely and well to sever that bond 
which is still competent for the protection of all." 




Th< 
interests, 

tion be <^iuouv>^ WWII. xyjL Luv; urtiit ui piuiiiauie rooiii to fcxps.__ 
s^and on. Without discussion as to whetlier this apprehension is decep- 
tive, it would be quite as well to look to the possibility of making any 
political arrangement whereby the laws or incidents of population and 
subsistence, can be shaped out of their natural course in the future. 
Any one who attempts to cypher on this subject, must look to the whole 
surroundings, and make a calculation for all sides, lest he find himself 
at random, and the sum require to be done over ao-ain. 

Estimate the increase of population for the last decade at thirty-five 
per cent. This gives thirty-one and a half millions. At the same 
ratio of increase, tliere would be three millions eight hundred and 
Iwenty-five thousand slaves. Three hundred and fifty thousand slave- 
holders, with the addition of their families, may be approximately esti- 
mated at seventeen hundred thousand. This would leave in the south- 
ern states not far from seven and one half millions of white population, 
disconnected in proprietorship with the institution of slavery. Add to 
this latter item the eighteen and one half millions in the free states. 
This would swell the free labor population to twenty-six millions. 
Here then, we find the great bulk of tlie voting, governing element of 
the Union. This twenty-six millions with its increase, must have an 
abiding place — so must the seventeen hundred thousand, with its in- 
crease — and so of the black population connected with it. 

It would not be possible for even tlie slaveholding population of the 
South to support itself without much po-rsonal labor. The negroes are 
not competent, and never have been, to support themselves, and the 
half of a white person, on the average. Much less are they competent 
to support the other seven and one-half millions. This population 
must support itself, educate its children, and make its own wav in the 
scale of existence. It cannot be pensioned upon the produce of slave- 
labor. Some portion of it may become slave owners, but the ratio of 
increase in the non sbtveholding population will not be lessened by any 
turn in the wheel of fortune. It will ever meet the stern necessity of 
subsistence through its own industry. So of the whole northern popu- 
lation — and so, of humanity at large. 

" Equality in the Union, or independence out of it" ! What is the 
meaning of this teim ; and, what equality is referred to? Is it intend- 
ed to declare ihat slavery shall have representation beyond ratio? 
That would be a simple fallacy. Is it intended to declare that slavery 
shall go upon the territories where slaveholders please to take it, irre- 
spective of the recommendations which slavery could carry with it ? 
Suppose Mr. Seward should forego his "irrepressible conflict," and he, 
■with the leaders of the Republican Pai It should sit down in conclave 
with the slavery propagandists — suppose further, that they should for 
once forego pirty contumely, and use their best endeavors to devise a 
plan for extending slavery, and to bind the country to an observance 
of a compact ? Ucre would be, staring them in the face, a twenty-six- 



million power of free labor. The vision would swell its prospect into a 
fifty-rail lion power in twenty-three years. The contemplation oT this 
vast political stienjrth, and governing power, would break up the Con- 
vention. Its pu.^rility would find vent in the declaration, " We could 
not if we would " ! Twice ten-million voices would respond, " You 
should not, if you could " ! ! 

" The South 1 The South" ! ! What is meant by this term ? One 
would imagine from the manner in which the word has been treated, 
that it was a country governed by an exclusive negro policy ; where 
nothing was cared for, nothing regarded, nothing made the subject of 
political solicitude but the master and his servants. It is spoken of as 
if there was no element in the South that kad, or could have natural, 
social, or political affinities with the free labor, and the destinies of free 
lahor in the country at large. It is even thought to be good policy, 
and expedient in some quarters, to set this element at variance with its 
natural political fellowship in the free States ; and, to make it an instru- 
ment in assisting to dissolve the Union. Suppose this to be accom- 
plished; what security will slaveholders have gained by the arrange- 
ment? Will distrust, and envy, and jealousy of their wealth, their 
monopoly of good land, and monopoly of force to work it, be lessened ? 
Will this seven and one-half millions, or, tliis thirty millions, forty- 
six years hence, be contented with an exclusive pro-slaverv policy ; and, 
more especially, if that policy be a narrow one, that shall overlook its 
great interests ? At present, there is room enough for all. Under 
sound policy, there will be for the next hundred years. Can any one, 
therefore, prove it to be w^ise to excite hatred, anarchy, and revolution, 
in ordei» to break up a government, most noted of all for common pro- 
tection ? 

If people are persuaded that revolution is the remedy for ills, fancied 
or real, and that a good excuse now exists, they will perhaps be as in- 
ventive -of rea-ons for breaking up the new confederacy. It will be 
composed of the same elements of free, and slave labor; and its gov- 
erning public opinion be manufactured through its stomach. Preju- 
dicial disparities, if they exist, will be as much digested through this 
organ as bread and meat. The only advantage the new government 
would have in its principles of duration, would arise from the fact, that 
cooler, wiser, more sagacious, and more patriotic men than those who 
formed the o!d government, had the framing of the new— men, who 
weremore competent to take in all the surroundings, and to make 
certain all arrangements for future population. Befo're actual dissolu- 
tion is tried, would it not be well to bring out the plan and organization 
of the new government through the instrumpntality of a " moot court" ? 
In this WMy, opportunity would be aflForded for examination and analy- 
sis. All the Hamiltons, Madisons, and Jays, in the land could put their 
heads together and write a new Federalist. In the meantime, let the 
old government stand, and the busine s of the country go on under it, 
until clearly demonstrated that an improvement could'be made. 

Involuntaiy servitude has been the theme of discussion both in this 



country and Europe for the last hundred years. Had we nothing but 
the white race, the discussion would soon end : — but, we have an ele- 
ment in population, the ancestry of which was brought here as prop- 
erty. This element, however much men may deplore, or affect to de- 
plore its introduction, must of necessity continue to be the subject of 
consideration with the whole American people. It cannot be other- 
wise, whether it remains in or goes out of the Union. This institution, 
originating in the law of force, now rests upon the foundation of mas- 
ter and servant, as established by law. In the maintenance of this 
relationship, the obligations of humanity and duty have been establish- 
ed and enforced by those having tlie control of legislation in the several 
Slate-. To such extent have the evils of slavery been assuaged, that it 
now has the t derating assent of the American people. It commands 
this guaranty for its continuance; the duration depcndiug upon the 
wL-e discretion that shall be thrown aiound it. 

It would be foul-hardy to dispute, that every human being has the 
right to " life," — " the pursuit of happiness" ; and, to every Avliole- 
eome privilege, consistent with circumstances, necessary to give effect 
to the last proposition. Anything not founded in principles of fair 
reciprocity cannot hope to recene, at this day, the assent of cultivated 
intellect or sensibility. The duration of any institution, government, 
or exercise of authority, will be measured by the degree of justice that 
is interwoven into its relationships. This principle, implanted in the 
nature of things attaches jis much to the relation of master and ser- 
vant as to anyibing else. If any one doubt it, let him look at the 
million.^, and yearly increasing millions of human beings now in servi- 
tude :— let him contemplate this increase through a few decades until 
it swells in prospect to tliirty or forty millions; surrounded by, mixed 
up witli,and rauiitied with republican institutions, and republican sen- 
timent. ^Vho, that has any ^;agacity, but must know, that it is to be 
guverned more and more in thelutuio, by the consent of the governed ; 
and, that amelioration will become more and more necessary to pro- 
mote content, and to command the assent, toleration, and assistance of 
the governing political force of the whole country. Short-sightedness 
oil this subject, if it prevail, will assuredly rue the day that it neg- 
lected to think, and to think liberally ; or, to act wisely and well. 

Negro philanthropy ! There is not half enough of the genuine, 
wholesome commodity ; but a thousand times tuo much of ill-judging, 
intermeddling sentimentality. Harvard University has brewed rhetoric 
enough to have ameliorated all the harsh incidents of slavery in Ame- 
rica, had it been of the right kind, and in the right direction. " We 
must strike high for principle," says diseased philanthropy. \ ery 
well— but in striking high, why mistake the negro kitchen as the ap- 
propriate place in which to elucidate the principles of good govern- 
ment * If any one has suggestions to make, let him address himseh in 
a proper manner to the go^verning power, whose vocation it is to make 
laws and ref-ulalions ; and whose interest it is to have none but whole- 
bome ones. °The slaveholders in the main, are the governing power, 



6 

politically, as well as individually, over this industrial institution. 
They are geneially men of education ; possess and exhibit a due pro- 
portion, and fair ratio of cultivation, thinking, and philosophic reason- 
ing. Their opportunities for observing, experimenting, concluding, and 
acting, cannot be less than those at a distance. 

If any one wishes for accurate information on the subject of negio 
slavery, he will not obtain it through the distorted statements of those 
having the motive to distort ; nor, through the rank and nauseous 
practices of ruffianism that have been engendered by vituperation, re- 
taliation, and another still more baneful cause. Let him go among the 
planters in the right spirit — let him say to them, — " I have heard 
much said and contradicted respecting this institution — I have come 
to satisfy myself by a personal examination." He will be shown over 
the plantation, and permitted to see it as it is. He will be taken to 
neighboiing plantations, and conducted from one to another as far as 
he pleases to go. He may travel over the whole country, and receive 
hospitable treatment. He will find slaveholders peculiarly anxious to 
point out to him all the impiovements in feeding, clothing, housing, 
and making the servants comfortable, as well as in making their labor 
productive. If he happen to run on any thing wrong, or much out of 
the way, the planter will be mortified at it ; whilst he will delight in 
showing the better side of things. The man of sense and liberality 
may readily discover, by implication, the right reasoning in the mind 
of the slaveholder. He may learn, that, as amongst slaveholders, re- 
missness in the care of servants, inhumanity, and brutality, are oppro- 
brious. He will learn that bright examples in slaveholding are re- 
garded as the strength and argument for upholding the institution : — 
that these, like all other good things, are the basis of toleration and 
respect ; and, that bad examples are but a weakening force. The 
Southern mind, as elsewhere, will be found sensitive and alive to the 
idea, that justice and humanity only can impart strength and duration 
to the dominion, where the government of man by man is to be main- 
tained. 

How can the comfort and happiness of the black population of the 
South be best promoted ? This is a fair question ; but, a question 
nevertheless, which narrow-mindedness is incompetent to answer. 
Take away the platform of diligent industry, and it would lack the 
means of subsistence. Take from it the feature of compulsory labor, 
and the war of races would immediately commence. Servitude, indeed, 
might be exchanged for anarchy, but it would be an anarchy maddened 
and heightened by the partialities of race, and prejudice of color. 
"Wrench the relationship of master and servant, and how long would it 
require, and what would be the process in re-constructing society out of 
the same materirils ? 

These are questions which must be taken in connection with known 
facts in the history of southern production, and in the establishment 
of this branch of southern political economy. Whilst the surpluses at 
the North have gradually been absorbed in the engagements of com- 



naerce and the mechanic arts, the South has been compelled by still 
more controlling circumstances to absorb the great bulk of its surpluses 
in the increase of this agricultural force. Whoever contemplates the 
growth and increase of this negro population, will see clearly, that the 
same necessity at the South is as strong now, as heretofore ; and, that 
the same will continue with redoubled force under the law of increase. 
This increase will continue to make the first call for the investment of 
Southern surpluses, and it will have but little beyond, wherewith to en- 
gage in commerce, manufactures, or foreign adventure. 

A large amount of northern capital has already been disintegrated 
from the pursuits of agriculture. It has raised up a large array of 
skilled labor. It is obliged from necessity to convert its rocks, its ice, 
and its running streams into sources of income. It is, in a measure, 
comp'dled to travel over the globe, seeking out new channels for enter- 
prise, in order to add to its means of subsistence. Southern commerce, 
southern mechanism, and southern improvements have, to much extent, 
disclosed the presence of northern capital, skill, and experience in their 
operations ; thus more strongly eluciclating the past, present, and future 
direction of southern surpluses. It equally discloses the motive of 
tenacity in the South for maintaining, unimpaired, its basis of produc- 
tion ; in other words, its great auxiliary in the means of subsistence. 

With respect to this industrial force of the South, there are senti- 
mentalities of two kinds that have been brought to bear in affecting it 
and its relationships. If the institution is to be attacked under the 
declaration of war, founded on the assumption that it is, iu and of itself, 
"the sum of ail iniquities," then will these philanthropists continue to 
make their calculations on such war footing. The following extract 
from a late Thanksgiving sermon aflords an epitome of the views of this 
class of sentimentalists : 

"I do not pronounce the southern people to be a barbarous people; 
1 say nothing about them ; I make no charge. If the things that are 
done there were done here, I should say they were barbarous. _ I may 
not know. I do, however, unhesitatingly say that the distinctive idea 
of the Free States is an element of Christian civilization, and that of the 
South is barbaric ; and that the real conflict ia this nation today is 
between Barbarism and Civilization. The one is like a pure white 
alabaster box, full of all purities and refinements ; the other is like Pan- 
dora's box, full of all evils and black, black wickedness. The conflict, 
then, has come ; and it is my business to keep you in the ranks, and to 
see that you are inspired to fight with heroism." 

Suppose the eminent divine who got oft' the above should take that 
northern side of societv, which is to become, in his mind, "like a piire 
white alabaster box, 'full of all purities and refinements." Let him 
exhibit it, through his family taste for literature, by a presentation of its 
sore spots'. Coukl not our legislators be made to appear like political 
thieves? our courts of justice more than questionable in their integrity? 



our merchants and tradesmen to be actuated by no higher motive than 
the sin of covetousness ? our women prostitutes, and the li\nd filled with 
vice, ignorance, and crime ? Possibly money could be made out of it. 
In the present stale of illiberal ferment it might have a sale at the 
South. If a foreigner, however, who had been instructed through this 
presentation, should come to see this mass of human degradation and 
moral depravity, he would bo astonished, — not with the apparent de- 
pravity, *but with the excellence of our condition. Looking about, he 
would exclaim — "I see nothing but evidence of splendid progress! I 
see homes — homes that look happy everywhere ! I observe a grand 
educational system — children nearly all at school — the people well 
dressed — men substantial — women refined — boys sprightly — children 
promising ; and, on the whole, admirable ! Evils, of course, there must 
be, but not remarkable in the comparison." 

Another foreigner comes. With a copy of the Beecher literature in 
his hand he visits the South, in order to chase down and make a note of 
the physical dilapidation and moral delinquencies of that section. In his 
whole course he would be coming in contact with cultivated society. Plea- 
sant farms and plantations everywhere spread out — railroads ramifying 
the States — telegraphs, to accelerate intelligence — colleges and schools 
established, and a general educational system prevailing — commerce, 
neither languishing nor wanting in the elements to sustain it — a people 
disposed to order and morality everywhere found. He would also find 
a vast industrial force of Afi icau ancestry — taken from the most bar- 
barous races of that country, and disciplined by industry and practical 
knowledge into such degree of civilization that individuals, in some 
quarters, desire to have it emancipated and set to voting. Such 
foreigner would be astonished at the difterence between the picture and 
the reality. 

The present state of the public mind, growing out of unmerited 
aspersion and retaliation,' should admoni-h all of the gross impropriety 
of such course. This habit has had no origin in kindness. It is as 
much removed from good taste as the blackguard is from the gentle- 
man. Flies light upon sore spots and deposit their larva. Rhetorical 
aspersion may breed its intellectual maggots until the festering sore 
ceases to be endurable. Billingsgate will be Billingsgate still, whether 
it be pulpit-refined, or whether it be exhibited at the southern hustings. 
Cast about, and let any one who can delineate the advantage resulting 
from this cross-fire of vituperation. What evil has been assuaged ? 
What moral or intellectual good has been accomplished? What have 
agriculture, commerce, or mechanism gained by it ? And, on the other 
hand, bow far have the amenities between States been broken down, 
and intercourse between them made unpleasant and distasteful ? An- 
swer it who can. 

No society yet established, or existing, in any country, has become 
so free from defects or infirmities as to be exempt from irritating criti- 
cism. If literature, the pulpit, or the press of our country, see fit to 
indulge its ta«te in parading the defects, follies, or idiosyncracies of the 



people of another section, with a view of subserving party purposes, or 
of holding them up to contempt or ridicule, nothing can be expected 
from such course but retaliation. Resentment, in such cases, springs 
from the best feelings of nature. Sensitive minds seldom alluw the 
aflfections of nativity to be blunted. They must and will cherish a warm 
regard for the country that gave birth to and nourished them. The 
poet, in the fullowing Hues, has truthfully delineated the attachments of 
nativity : 

"And yet, perhaps, if countries we compare, 
And estimate* the blessings which they share, 
Though patriots flatter, still shall wisdom find 
An equal portion dealt to all mankind. 
The shudd'ring tenant of the frigid zone 
Boldly proclaims that happiest spot his own, 
Extols the treasures of his stormy seas. 
And his long nights of revelry and ease. 
The naked negro, panting at the line, 
Boasts of his golden sands and palmy wine ; 
Basks in the glare, or stems the tepid wave, 
And thanks his Gods for all the good they gave. 
Dear is the Alpine shed to whicli the soul conforms, 
And dear that hill which lifts him to the storms; 
And as a child, whom scaring sounds molest, 
Clings close and closer to its mother's breast. 
So the loud torrent and the whirlwind's roar 
But bind him to his native mountains more. 
And such the patriot's boast, where'er we roam, — 
His first, best country ever is at home." 

There are two things dear to every man's heart. It matters not 
what may be the weaknesses or the faults of either; humanity will not 
allow its mother or its country to be disparaged. No one can trench 
with impunity on this sacred ground. 

Let us inquire — has this feeling of native attachment, commendable 
to the last degree in its proper indulgence, blunted our vision in the 
broader contemplation ? Has narrowness of mind become so chronic, 
or patriotism so near-sighted, that we cannot look beyond neighborhood 
or State ? Despite partiality or prejudice, incidents will occasionally 
carry us to the higher point of appreciative vision. When the gallant 
American demanded the Hungarian refugee in the Mediterranean, in 
whose name did he speak ? "Do you ask the protection of the United 
States?" "Yes!" A word, and the double-headed eagle of Austria 
drooped before the high behest of the Stars and the Stripes.^ The 
voice of the young Carolinian was potential, when he spoke in the 
name of his great country and its sympathising millions. Should not 
this incident admonish the sons of the Palmetto State, the Granite, the 
Keystone, and she of the Lone Star, and all their Sisters, that we all 
have this great country, whose voice and justice may be rendered more 
and still more potential ? A country expanding from ocean on the East 
to ocean on the West— that warms one hand in the toind regions of 
the South, whilst it extends the other to the icebound regions of the 
North. Will we not soon be prepared to say, with significant emphasis. 



10 

to the people of the world, " We are your friends ".<? to the potentates 
of the earth, " Whilst we acknowledge the existence of your govern- 
ments, we accord them respect in just proportion to their beneficence ?" 

However strong or abiding the preferences of each State for its own 
local institutions, there has been but little disposition by the respective 
States to interfere with each other. The General Government, in the 
main, has been sedulous to avoid offense. Delicate as its position has 
often been, viewed in disconnection with party jealousy and party ambi- 
tion, its administration will appear to have aimed at impartiality. The 
people, as a whole, have manifested a fair disposition towards each State, 
and as much so towards the southern States as towards the northern. 
The mutual complaints of aggression are in the main unfounded, and 
"exist more in speculation than in reality. The institution of slavery, or 
interest connected with it, has made the loudest complaints as to threat- 
ened insecurity. Look to the past and present public opinion on that 
subject. The common sentiment of the voting, governing power of the 
Union is, that slavery in the southern States, as it exists, should not be 
interfered with : — that under existing circumstances there is no way of 
either wisdom or prudence, but to allow the institution to remain until 
the southern States, each for itself, governed by its own motives of policy, 
shall see fit to make the change. This is the sentiment of the whole 
South. With the exception of a few abolitionists, it is the sentiment of 
the whole political force, North and South, that voted against Mr. Lin- 
coln. It is the expressed sentiment and declaration embodied in the 
fourth article of the Republican platform, and, in relation to which, no 
language could be more explicit. Here w^e have the programme ; an 
exhibition of assent from the governing political force of every State, 
accompanied with the declaration that this industrial institution should 
remain exempt from molestation. 

The provision of the Constitution requiring the surrender of fugi- 
tives from service, when properly considered, has as much of the essence 
of humanity as policy. Livoluntary servitude being legitimated by the 
whole governing power, it follows that all disturbing causes, that pro- 
duce nothing but evil, should be removed. When it can be shown that 
renegade negroes, renegade apprentices, or, renegade boys brought up 
in idleness, and undisciplined to habits of labor through diligent industry, 
are more moral, or more profitable to their masters, or satisfactory to 
their parents, or more useful to society, it will be necessary to alter the 
methods of reasoning founded on experience. Upon close, and closer 
examination, and by contemplating the whole of what surrounds this sub- 
ject, the enlightened conscience may find refuge in the certainty that 
privileges will be established and meted out to servants in such propor- 
tion as they can be accorded with safety. The extent to which amelio- 
rating regulations and modifications can be carried, will depend "much 
upon the fact, as to how far the motive to renegadism is taken away. 
To carry out a fair and just system of amelioration, so as to remove as 
far as possible the harsh incidents of servitude, and along with them, 
the distrustful jealousy of slaveholders, requires the firm co-operation of 
the whole political force of the country. The time has come when it 



11 

would be profitable for all to consider with calmness what should be done 
on all sides. There must be a true ground on which all ought to stand. 
What is it ? Good sense, perhaps, might answer in few words. 

Examine into the motives of our governing population in the aggre- 
gate ; and how few do we find who wish to aggravate the ranklings of 
sectionalism, with intent to place them beyond cure ? How diminutive 
and even contemptible their number. Look to the side of those who 
can ill aff"ord to be disturbed in their vocation, their interest, their quiet, 
or in their national patriotism. Of what use would revolution, rebellion, 
or anarchy be to them ? They need, and notwithst:mding the sedition 
in the land, will have, and will insist on having the potency of a name, 
whose ensign shall give national, as well as State and individual security, 
without the necessity or expense of standing armies. Look to the con- 
tingencies of war — war that may come through jealousy excited by the 
growth of Republican institutions. In the conflict of principle, what 
guaranty have we in avoiding it, but the potency of a name, and a 
union ? Look to the overshadowing and still growing strength- of the 
great powers of Europe, and then at the small powers, having political 
existence, as if tenants by sufferance. What guaranty have these small 
powers other than the disagreement of the great powers as to the parti- 
tion. Should any fragment of our Confederacy be disintegrated, who 
knows how soon it might be coveted as a waif by the hand of some 
mighty power ? What protection would it then have, but to fall back on 
the generosity of the sisters from whom it had sought to estrange itself? 

Without discussing in this place the question as to whether a dis- 
solution of the Union is possible without civil war, or detailing the 
accumulated, and ever accumulating inconveniences, of all parts under 
political separation, let us suppose the Union dissolved by the common 
consent of the States. Admit that a southern confederacy may be 
formed ;— further, imagine that it is formed ; that its government has 
gone into operation, with all the territory and population, more or less, 
that could be induced to absolve itself from the old compact, and go 
into the new one. In what way could it better its industrial, social, or 
political condition? 

Let us presuppose that the only contest between the two confedera- 
cies is to be the race of emulation in prosperity. It would then remain 
to be decided as to which could draw to itself, by its liberalized policy, 
the greatest political or governing power, and consequently the greater 
strength ; the greater e^nterprise" through its capital, commerce, and 
population, in settling new States and developing their resources; 
which could best supply its own increasing domestic wants by raising 
new occupations for skilled labor; in other words, which could be 
made the best platform for diversified industry to exert itself on. All 
other chances being equal, no one would doubt the capacity or versa- 
tility of the American mind, or its power to perceive and act upon the 
motives to interest. Circumstances, however, may forbid the prosecu- 
tion of a particular branch of production in one section, when it is 
entirely feasible in another. Mississippi and Massachusetts, as their 



12 

respective interests are nosv adjusted, could ill afford to exchange occu- 
pations. The one will continue to require its surpluses to be invested 
in lands, and force to cultivate them. The other will just as imperiously 
require its surpluses to be invested in commerce and the mechanic arts, 
in order to retain and increase its population. The natural flow of 
capital will compel each section of country to adhere to its most profit- 
able occupations. No power in legislation that could be made endur- 
able would prevent this; nor, can legislation under free government be 
made to constrain or control capital in canning on the business of sub- 
sistence. If the South, or any part of it, wishes to engage deeper in 
manufactures or mechanism, what political obstructions now exist ? — 
Under a new confederacy, what additional motives could be matured 
and brought out in the hotbed of legislation ? 

The South desires more commerce — foreign, direct commerce. If 
there be southern capital to spare from agriculture, what is now in the 
way? What advantage has the North now, except the capital and 
facilities already embarked, and which the South could not embark for 
reasons mentioned. " But," say men at the South, " we must have free 
trade." Very well ! — how are the revenues for the support of the new 
government to be raised ? Say, by direct taxation. Then come the 
questions, whether they will be more or less in the aggregate; whether 
whether they will fall more or less upon property ; or, more or less upon 
person than under the present system ; and whether the one course in 
the collection be wiser than the other. Then, again, whether there be 
free trade or tariff duties in one confederacy, what difficulty in making 
the debenture system of the other confederacy conform to circum- 
stances, so as to continue tiade in its natural and most feasible channels ? 
Look at the twelve thousand southern population in the State of New 
York, and mostly in the city of New York. Why did it go there, 
except for the purpose of gaining better access to northern capital, and 
northern facilities for doing southern trade ? Look at northern men in 
southern cities ; why did they go there, but for the purpose of obtain- 
ing better access to southern business through northern capital ? 
Whether any government, capable of being formed, could at this day 
be so administered as to coerce the laws of trade, or motives to occu- 
pation, remains to be seen. The governments of Europe have exper- 
imented much in times past, and have all experimented themselves into 
the belief that a liberalized policy is best. 

To go back a little : some of the statesmen of South Carolina affected 
to discover the seeds of an " irrepressible conflict," at a much earlier day 
than Mr. Seward. They had witnessed the flow of southern population 
to the north, and the transfer of representation along with it. For 
many years past, have they affected to deplore a government of major- 
ities. It was prophesied by them, that any material disturbance of the 
balance of power, would be the "knell for dissolving the Union." The 
principles of the Roman and Grecian Republics have been admired and 
applauded, whilst Aristotle's "theory of a perfect society" has been 
their t-^xt-book. Jefferson's views, and the views of the old statesmen 



13 



of Virginia, have been denounced and repudiated. A government, 
founded on class, partly of quani patrician, and partly of plebeian repre- 
sentation, has been broached. As incident to its anticipations, the re- 
opening of the African slave trade has been urged, in order to supply 
more fully the necessary requirement for servile labor : the whole of this 
to be upheld and maintained by the broadest possible organization of 
militar} force. Here, then, is a suggested military republic, with a 
government of checks and balances in analogy to the English parlia- 
ment; and all predicated on the supposed necessity, of not only govern- 
ing the servile labor, but to place a barrier to the future influence of the 
non-slaveholding population. 

It needs little reflection, to conclude that a government, with a 
privileged class of legislators, could not be formed in the Southern 
State«.* It is a sentiment inbred in the American population, and forti- 
fied by habit, to abhor political privilege, founded on dass. _ It is hardly 
possible, that such an arrangement would be acquiesced^ in by South 
Carolina. Much less would it receive encouragement in Louisiana, 
Arkansas, or Texas. Without this feature, nothing could be gained for 
any particular class, that does not already exist under every State Gov- 
ernment. 

The reopening of the African slave trade, is a measure of such com- 
mon aversion, that few, comparatively, until recently, have been its 
open advocates. That the project is now entertained by many, there is 
little doubt. That it is identified with the project of forming a Southern 
Confederacv, there is just a.s little. Aside from the question whether 
civilized nations would permit it; bow would it aff'ect the interests of 
the new military r. public ? Here arc seven and one-half millions of 
white peoi^le without slaves. Many of them have already been made to 
believe that if the barbarous liordes of Africa could be turned i»to the 
new confederacy, they also, could readily become slaveholders. With- 
out weighing the probability of such a result, against the more probable 
monopoly by present slaveholders, it may be well to contemplate the 
cff"ect of this new introduction of slaves upon their interests. 

It is soon to become indispensable for the South to raise up new occu- 
pations, and profitable ones, too, for this seven and one-half millions of 
non-slaveholding population. If it is not done, much of this population 
will be obliged to go where such occupations are established. As a 
general thing, it would not be urged that this population has capital 
with which to embark, to much extent, in commerce, or manufactures. 
The capital is with the slaveholders, and consists mainly of lands and 
force to cultivate them. In case the slave trade is ^P;^^^^'/^^ ^ T,^);!?^ 
be another draft on southern surpluses, already inadequate to absorb 
the increase of the negro force that is raised in the <^o"" JT; What 
cncourarreraent, then, could manufacturers receive from southern cap- 
ital? How coiild it be otherwise, than going from bad to wors by 
impairing more and more the prospect of raising up new and profitable 

""'XeX; slaveholders and their servants separated from the rest of 



14 



the southern population, and the yearly product of that interest exhibited, 
the iper capita ratio would stand much higher in favor of the slave- 
holders than w^ould any other interest in the United States. Take the 
per capita product of the seven and one-half millions without servants, 
and it would stand miserably low in the comparison. Here is a dis- 
parity of most alarming regret. There is no subject wherein the slave- 
holder has so much cause of solicitude, as in the advancement of this 
non-slaveholding population. Without it, slavery has no police force 
adequate to uphold and maintain the institution. With causes of dis- 
satisfaction and disparity, increasing from year to year with accumu- 
lating force, it may be well, in season, to avoid the consequences. It is 
of no avail to irritate this population into mdiscriminate hostility to the 
North. That will not last long; for hostility in any direction will 
neither feed, clothe, or provide shelter. This hostility, with its unthink- 
ing attributes, may sway this population into assisting to establish a 
military despotism, having for its avowed object the government of the 
negroes : but, how will this feed, clothe, and sustain the non-slavehold- 
ing white population? With the principles of civil liberty now half 
demolished, and to be entirely stricken down under a military des- 
potism; what good is to be accomplished by it to the great mass of the 
voting white population of the South ? Profitable employment, not 
despotism, is what this population requires. 

Examine the following table, taken from the report on the finances, 
and compiled under the direction of the late Secretary of the Treasury,- 
Mr. Guthrie. It professes to exhibit the per capita production of each 
man, woman and child, white and black, in the respective states. It 
is inaccurate in some particulars that analysis might point out, but 
sufiiciently correct to make an illustration. 

The ratio of annual production to each man, woman and child, 
white and black, (exclusive of the gains, or earnings of trade and com- 
merce,) is as follows : 



Massachiieetts $166 60 

Rhode Island 164 61 

Connecticut 166 05 

California 149 60 

New Jersey 120 82 

New Hampshire 11*7 17 

New York Ill 94 

Pennsylvania 99 30 

Vermont 96 02 

Illinois 89 04 

Missouri 88 06 

Delaware 85 27 

Maryland , 83 85 

Ohio 75 82 

Michigan 72 54 

Kentucky 7182 

Maine 71 11 

Indiana 69 12 



Wisconsin $68 41 

Mississippi 67 50 

Iowa 65 47 

Tennessee 4 63 10 

Georgia 61 45 

Virginia 59 42 

South Carolina 56 91 

Utah 56 62 

Alabama 55 72 

Florida 54 77 

Arkansas 52 04 

District of Columbia 52 00 

Texas 51 13 

North Carolina 49 38 

Minnesota 24 13 

New Mexico 16 60 

Oregon 233 56 



15 

This table carries its own commentary. It shows the result of put- 
ting the powers of nature into requisition through the ingenuity and 
invention of man ; and, of making them tell on the business of sub- 
sistence through diversified industry. The degree of yearly income 
goes directly to the incidents of home, of comfort, of education, and 
independence ; and, shall it not be said, — of contentment also. Is it 
not time that the suuthern political economist or statesman took mat- 
ters into account, and resorted to some effective plan for profitable 
and diversified occupation ? There are in the South no elements in 
population necessarily antagonistic ; but, how soon will it be before 
these elements will become antagonistic, in case everything is forced 
into agriculture? Manufacturing requires little room to stand on. 
Commerce less : — Millions can subsist within small space, indifferent to 
the fact, whether the soil adjacent be productive or sterile. These are 
elements which the South must have, and they must be identified with 
a home feeling and interest, and a socially liberalized order in society 
that invites, and does not repel population. Not military despotism, 
with its crushing expenses, and still greater aptitudes to crush out civil 
liberty and contentment, but exactly the opposite of its whole train 
of evils, will be wanting. 

IIow is this diversified industry in the South to be raised up ? It 
will require a great amount of capital. It will require a large force of 
skilled labor from abroad to make the start ; and, to assist by its skill 
and experience to raise up an army of skilled labor in the South. It 
will require years of patience, of encouragement, and of toilsome effort ; 
but, that will be in nowise discouraj;ing as long as every point gained 
in the right direction is immediately beneficial ; and every success 
achieved, gives sticngth in achieving higher success. It must neces- 
sarily be the growth of time, — the length of that time, depending 
mainly on the treatment and encouragement that it recnives, or is 
thrown around it. Manufacturing capital, like other capital is timid 
and cautious, and it will not go into places where it cannot carry skilled 
labor along with it. Skilled labor is intelligent and sensitive, and 
while it is conscious of standing on a high ground of usefulness in pro- 
duction, it feels and demands its claim to high respectability ; and, can- 
not, and will not be divested of its manhood. 

There is a phase wherein recent illiberality at the South, no matter 
from what cause originating, has worked consequences as baneful as its 
motives were questionable. The word went forth to "mob," "tend out 
of the country," or, " hang every man" who was supposed to sympa- 
thize, or wish for the election of the Republican candidate. If half the 
representations of the southern press be true, then indeed has much 
murder been done, and much blood shed; not for crime, but for politi- 
cal preferences. Everywhere at the South has the story been told in 
the presence of negroes, that the great Republican party at the North 
were intent upon driving out slavery, and emancipating the negroes. 
These stories have been reiterated at the hotel tables, the bar-rooms, the 
hustings and corner groceries, and in the high-ways and by-ways. This 



16 

pretense has been made the apology for mobbing and hanging, and the 
sincerity of the declaration thus made manifest to the negro's mind by 
the seal of blood that accompanied it. vScarcely a negro in all the South 
but believes that such is the object of the Republican party. Thus we 
have it, the negro's mind contaminated v^'ith a false and dangerous delu- 
sion ; made to look upon his master with distrust and enmity ; and to 
look abroad for deliverance. Under this process the negro has begun to 
be a politician ; and to be influenced by aspirations for freedom, for the 
sole reason that he was assured that a power was coming that would set 
him free. This state of the negro mind at the South is now viewed 
with horror, especially in those places where the black population much 
predominates. This is the chief reason for the recent transmission of 
arms South. Fear of insurrection, heightened into tormenting appre- 
hension, now prevails ; and, it is proposed to add negro desperation to 
the other ingredients by a severance of the Union. Perhaps wisdom 
would dictate that hurry is not the very best thing under existing cir- 
cumstances : — that if any importance is to be attached to negro aspira- 
tions, it would be quite as well to allow Mr. Lincoln's administration to 
dispel the delusion. 

One object of the preceding remarks has been to show that there 
is no conflict, political, social, or otherwise, necessarily existing be- 
tween the systems of free and slave labor, as established with us. In- 
stead of being at war with each other, exactly the reverse is true. Look 
at agriculture, what conflict has arisen there? Look at commerce; 
what conflict there? — at mechanism; what there? — at any branch of 
industry or trade; and what there? Every occupation, productive of 
the means of subsistence, shows its degree of dependence, and invites 
harmony instead of contention : — nor are the motives to humanity in 
avoiding collision, less than the material interests. Take all the sub- 
stantial interests in the land, agricultural, commercial, mechanical, scien- 
tific, moral, and educational : — in their combination they are all peace- 
mrikers ; but they sometimes have more than they can do to keep the 
peace. Political economy is a peacemaker; but it seldom holds its own 
in the wranglings of party ferment. However far we may look, we shall 
find the truth to be, if we find it at all, that everything of utility can be 
made to harmonize with utility ; but there is a condition precedent, 
founded in the law of nature, and equally applicable to everything. It 
is embraced in two words : P)E just. 

Another object in the preceding pages has been to illustrate the ne- 
cessity and justice of giving fair and equal protection to every interest 
that has been legitimatized by the Constitution and laws of the United 
States. As incident to the argument, the motives to humanity and 
sound policy have been hinted at, and the basis suggested upon which 
it is supposed that sound thinking and humane reflection may coincide. 
This basis requires something of importance to be done, and forborne, 
on all sides. There is nothing in the way of adjusting existing inter- 
ests, and existing rights, unless the attempt be insi-ted on to re-open 
the African slave trade, which is now believed to be the procuring 
cause of the present turbulence. 



17 

The task of reviewing the progress of this baleful question is attended 
with the hazud of overdrawing as to the facts; or, of falling materially 
short of the actual state of things. The difficulty lies, not so much in 
est iblishing the fact that it is a project of some years' standing, as in 
discriminating with regard to the classes engaged in it. Enough is 
known with certainty to base conjectures, and to afford illustralio'ns as 
to the fearful extent to which the purposes and combination have 
already been carried. 

Let it not be supposed that this project had its origin with the sub- 
stantial slaveholders. Consult them individually, and nine-tenths, per- 
haps, would declare it an evil which of all evils they would most dread. 
They are lovers of stable government ; understand well the united op- 
posiiion of the civilized world; can anticipate the intensified turmoil 
that would unavoidably result to the whole South, should the effort by 
force be made and insisted upon. They understand well the danger of 
disturbing the stitus of the black man, South, in case of anarchy and 
civil war. To use the language of a worthy man (now deceased), 
"we are between two fires — here are the abolitionists' on one hand, and 
" these creatures who would open to us the book of evils on the other. 
"The abolitionists ascribe sM the extravagance and ruffianism in the 
"l:ind t) slaveholders, and we are obliged to bear the discredit. We 
"are made to look like demons in the eyes of the world. We cannot 
"quarrel with this class of men who are working discredit on the insti- 
'■tution, for we have them right amongst us, and are more afraid of them 
" than wc are of the abolitionists, for they are at a distance. Turn 
"which way we will, we hardly know what to do." This was said by a 
member of the Texas legislature in 1855, and had reference, amongst 
other thing-, to an article in the Slale Gazette, impliedly advocating 
the importation of negroes from Africa. It now becomes necessary to 
take the distinction between the lovers of the Union and stable govern- 
ment at the South, and the enemies*of the Union, both North and 
South. 

It is matter of history that between the adoption of the Federal 
Constitution, and 1808, an accelerated impetus was given to the African 
slave trade through northern ships and capital; that after 1808, and 
fifter the passage of the law by Congress making it the highest penal 
offence for American citizens to engage, or be interested in the traffic, 
much of the capital was transferred under various disguises, and em- 
ployed in furnishing Brazil. Since the abolition of the trade by Brazil, 
It hfiB been continued through the connivance of the Spanish author- 
ities in supplying Cuba. It has often been boasted that the trade, not- 
■witlistanding the rigorous penalties, had scarcely been lessened. Im- 
punity seems to have generated the idea, and encouraged it into the 
formation of a project to re-adopt and legitimate the trade — the trial to 
be first made "in the Union;" that unsuccessful, to be made on the 
stiength of a southern confederacy, " out of the Union." 

Ii would contribute much to quiet disputes, and to promote the 
welfare of the Union, and all its legitimate interests, could this African 
2 



18 

slave-trade, capital and influence be made to stand out, in order that its 
political connections might be examined into. That, hoAvever, is impossi- 
ble. Enoua;h may be learned by patience and examination, to disclose the 
important fact that it lies at the bottom of nearly all our present diflB- 
cullies ; that it is the only tenacious disturber of the public peace. 

The African slave-trade influence, has proceeded step by step, not 
only with its busir,e>s of jiroselytisra ; but also to sound public opinion 
as it advanced. Its discretion has also been taxed as to the time when 
it should be made an open question. The first answer in South Ca- 
rolina was, "not now." The same answer was given in Georgia. One 
southern Convent'on, called for the ostensihle purpose of encouraging 
Southern trade, dealt daintily wiih the subject, nnd laid it over. A 
subsequent Convention recommended it, but left the manner in which 
it was to be accomplished indefinite. The subject was broached in 
Texas under the auspicf s of Senator Wigfall in a speech at Galveston, 
in 1859, and the speech, together with approving editorial comments, 
circulated through the State. In the meantime, the experiment was 
made to iniroduce a cargo of slaves into Georgia, with the avowed ob- 
ject of testing the question whether the law of Congress could be en- 
forced. In connection with this experimtnt, the supposed pliancy of 
the Executive and his Cabinet was openly talked about. The possible 
subserviency of the Supreme Court of the United States was hinted at. 
Oiganizations were said to be formed in the Cotton States to forward 
the question in the South ; at the same time leading individuals be- 
came identified with men at the North in the numerous experiments 
that have been detected on the coast of Africa and elsewhere. 

In order to overcome the objections which the civilized world had 
raised up against this traffic, it was supposed to be necessary to bring 
theology imo its service. " It Avas vouchsafed to the children of Is- 
rael," said the kidnapper, " that they should take the heathen for an in- 
heritance. This is the higbef law, and the Constitution and law of 
Congr<?ss must give way." 

"The aboliiionists," says the kidnapper, "are attacking, the insti- 
tution of slavery on religious grounds, therefore we must raise up a 
Bible doctrine in favor of slavery." It was thus the twaddle com- 
menced about the divinity of slavery. We now have a fashionable 
theology in some quarters, based on kidnapping. 

Another object of the kidnapping influence has been to brutalize 
public opinion. There was too much of the sensibility of Washington, 
of- Madison, of Jeff"erson, of Patrick Henry and George Mason afloat, 
to suit the convenience of these projectors. Public opinion must be 
altered. The negro must be stricken down to the lowest and most un- 
alterable degree of degradation. His status of quasi citizenship, ac- 
quired in the free States, where the policy leans to the protection and 
education of all classes, must be attacked. The Federal Judiciary must 
be made subservient to this influence. How far success has been 
achieved in the direction of the Judiciary, now stands upon the judicial 
records. To what extent brutality has been cultivated in another di- 



19 

rcction, is well exemplified by an article published in the Times cf tha 
19ili insi. It comes from its coiTespondent, now at Charleston. 

To show the magnanimity of the people of South Carolina, I have only to 
refer to a bill introduced into the House a few dnys since by a meruber from 
the interior, having for its object the selling of all free persons of color found ia 
the State on and after the 1st of Januarj^iext. This bill was referred to tlie 
Committee on Colored Population, who, after giving the subject the most delib- 
erate investigation, reported yesterday through their Chairman, the HonoraLlo 
J. IIahleston Read. The Committee report against the passage of the bill, and 
assign various reasons for so doing. They asseit that the free colored person* 
of the Stale number not less than ten thousand ; that thej- are a thrifty, orderly 
and well-disposed class, and that they are owners pf a vast amount of property 
both real and personal. These people, say the Committee, have not come to the 
shores of South Carolina suddenly, but many of them, as well os their ances- 
tors, were manumitted for their fidelity and loyalty to the State; ihere are 
cnBe?, even, wiiere persons of this class have been purchased and manumitted by 
the State Legislature, and there lives at this time one remarkable proof of this 
statement in the person of Peter Desvernkys, who, for his fidelity and loyalty 
to the State, was purchased, manumitted, and now enjoys the privilege of a 
place on the pension roll, and is, in fact, the recipient of one of the largest. pen- 
6ioi:8 pn the roll of the State. The Committee say there is now a memorial be- 
foie the Legislature, from the citizens of Charleston, numerously signed by 
tho-o of the higliest worth and respectability — slaveholders by inh-^ritance and 
purchase — remonstrating in the strongest laui^uage ai^ainst tliis proposed wrong 
to free negroes, and praying the Legishiture to abstain from this act of injustice 
and cruelty. The petitioners claim for them that there are in that city many of 
the class "good citizens, patterns of industry, sobriety, and irreproachable coa- 
duct." 

The Committee state that, apart from these considerations there are difficul- 
ties of a ])ractical character in the way of those who advocate this bill. Tlie 
free colored persons in the city of Charleston alone pay taxes on $1,561,870 
worth of propi-rty, including slaves, tlie latter amounting in value to thres 
hundred thousand dollars, and the aggregate taxes reaching $27,209 18. The 
Committee ask very properly : 

" What will become of the one million and a half of property which be- 
longs to them in Charleston alone, to say nothing of their property elsewhere 
in tlie State V Can it enter into the mind of any Carolina legislator to confiscate 
this property and put it in the Treasury ? We forbear to consider anything so 
full of injustice and wickedness. Whilst we are battling for our right*, liberties 
and institutions, can we expect the smiles and countenance of the Arbiter of all 
events, when we make war on the impotent and unpiotected, enslave them 
against all justice, and rob them of the property acquired by tiieir own honest 
toil and industry, under your former protection aud sense of justice ?" 

The exhibition of the pitiable specimen of himian frailty who intro- 
duced this bill in the South Caroliiaa Legislature, is merely to indicate 
the class to which he belongs. He claims kindred only to that class of 
stupid but ambitious fools, who estimate public opinion by the ;ippear- 
.ince of noisy rufHani-m floating nn the surface of socit-ty. This indi- 
vidual presupposed ihMt ruffianism had become fashionaljle as a public 
sentiment. He was led into his recommendation of atrocity by the 
same delusion that now influences the slave-trade advocates in the cotton 
S:a;es, and who arc working a disgrace upon s'aveliolders, as unjust aa 
the cause of it is wicked. This "incident is illustrative of something 



20 

more than a mere phase of brutality. It shows that, whilst the rufEau 
influence that introduced the bill is totally unworthy of political trust 
anywhere, Mr. Read and his associates, who reported against the bill, 
with fair influence to protect them, can be trusted eveiywhere. 

To carry out the political drama of the African slave-trade projec- 
tors, it was presupposed to be necessary to have a united South. It 
was known to be impossible to unite the South on this question ; or, per- 
haps, to unite the people of a single State, should the question be made 
an open one, and fair deliberation permitted. It was deemed necessary, 
in order to unite the South, to raise and continue the cry of "Northern 
Aggression." What this noithern aggression consisted of was of but 
little consequence, and to this day remains an unexplained myth, unless 
it is found in the fact that two million people of southern extraction 
have found homes and hospitable treatment on northern soil. To etFect 
something that should look like southern imity, it was deemed essential 
to stiike down, or paralyze, free discussion. No opinion was to be tol- 
erated that did not comport with the views of those who sought to 
regulate public opinion by force. The press, ever timid, Avas to be 
forced into pusillanimity. If people were found unwilling to execrate tho 
North, or dispo>ecl to vindicate it against the acciisa'ion of manufactured 
falsehood, the policy of the kidnappers required that they should be 
mobbed into compliance, or bo mobbed out of the country. Counsels 
of foresight and moderation were suflBcient cause for displacing southern 
statesmen irom the Senate of the United States. Nor has this been all. 
It was feared that a national administration would be brought into 
power that would be competent to grapple with the kidnapping force, 
and that would have the inclination to do it. This, it was well known, 
would put an end to tho African slave-trade project "in the Union;" 
hence the alternative of so shaping the tactics as to provide for it " out 
of the Union." 

The preparation of public opinion in the cotton States for a dissolu- 
tion of the Union, has been connected with a process of open brutality 
hitherto unknown in our country. It would be sickening to detail the 
proceedings of mobs, and the murders that have been committed, in 
order to force the population of the cotton States into the proper state 
of pusillanimity. The process of dissolution must be suddenly effected, 
or not at all. Men had cast their die on the success of the project. 
Their allies in the North have been brought into requisition. lago-like, 
they too have aimed to intensify the jealousy of well-disposed southern 
people as to the aims of the Republican party. 'Jhey have apologized 
for southern extravagance, justified southern mobs, extenuated southern 
murder in its process of regulating public opinion, and have left nothing 
undone that could by any possibility contribute to widen the supposed 
breach existing between the North and South. Southern slave-trade 
emissaries and their northern allies have for months sat in conclave in 
the city of New York. The public has been astonished at the emana- 
tions put forth by them and through their influence. 

The most bitter denunciations of all, and most characteristic, have 



21 



been those made against Gen, Houston, Without Texas for a stamping 
prronnd, the African slave trade would be a diminutive business. Gen. 
Houston wns known to entertain insuperable objections to this inhuman 
traffic. His occupancy of the chair of State was a stumbling-block to 
any precipitate aciion. It was well known that the old hero was a lover 
of the South — the whole South, and all its legitimate interests and insti- 
tutions ; but it was equjilly well known that he was also a lover of his 
whole country, and that he could fL-el, and did feel, as just a sympathy 
and interest for white humanity in its shirt-sleeves as any other indus- 
trial ajjency. He could look beyond the confines of the institution in 
connection with which he was raised. He lovec^the Union, the govern- 
ment, the States, and the whole of that grand system of empire, in the 
establishing, maintaining, and bringing togtther of which he had con- 
tributed so much. It was for this, and nothing else, that General 
Houston 'received the appellation of " hoary-headed traitor" in the Sen- 
ate of the United States. It was for this, simply, that the "regulators 
of public opinion '' in Texas have threatened to send a mob to the 
Capitol of the State to hang its executive chief magistrate. The nations 
of Europe are now listening with astonishment,' and wondering " if this 
has become treason," — " if patriotism such as this has become political 
crime" in America! 

To such a degree has violence for opinion's sake become the order 
of the day in the cotton States, that none of the old Virginia statesmen, 
whose n;imes are mentioned, stripped of the prestige of their names, 
could there express their sentiments without being mobbed. Washing- 
ton could liardly compromise hanging by an alternative of tar and 
feathers. One of the present senators of Virginia would do little in- 
justice to his imagination should he console his pride of ancestry, in 
the vision of a great man — a noble grandfather — dangling at a rope's 
end from the branch of some tree in the swamps of Mississippi. Grad- 
ually has personal security in the cotton States ceased. How its resto- 
ration is to be brought about is a momentous question for the South, 

Presupposing that the project of Disunion had its origin in, and that 
it is inseparably connected with' its adjunct, the African slave trade, it 
may be well, perhaps, to calculate the probabilities of success in carry- 
ing out tlie latter project. The policy has been declared, and the sen- 
timent fortified by ail the experience necessary, that America must bo 
no further peopled through importation by an element which cannot be 
citizenized by common consent. It needs no argument to show that 
such is the fixed and unalterable decree of public opinion in the govern- 
ing force of the Union. No sectional attempt to violate this decree of 
the governing power — the people— will be suffered to succeed without 
acbi^:vin£j. success as "the last conclusion offeree." It matters not 
how extensive the combinat'on in the cotton States, England and France 
will not be less imperative than the middle and northern States of this 
Union. It admits of no conjecture as to who would have the controlling 
diplomatic influence with civilized nations ; and just as little conjecture 
as to the result. There was never a more foolish delusion than has 



23 

operated on the minds of those who have made the re-establishment of 
this interdicted traffic the basis of proposed revolution. 

The influence that has thus far projected and carried forward thia 
delusive scheme has received its main support from the non-slaveholding 
populntion in the cotton States. Many of this class have been made to 
believe that wealth, and gain, and advantage would flow to them 
through this traffic, were it once opened. Ambition of gain in these 
deluded people has been wrought upon by the projectors until their 
ecstasy has become wild in its defiance of the General Government. 
Many of them now believe themselves commissioned to perpetrate crime 
and murder upon thos« who would adhere to the incoming administra- 
tion. What will be the condition of those who have raised up this 
cruel delusion, when the delusion shall have passed away? Who will 
then be made responsible for the mobs, the murder, and the crime that 
shall have resulted? These are fearful questions for that chis's of men 
who shall be found to have been identified with the conspiracy. The 
attention of tlio liation, and of other nations, is now being directed to 
the point of discrimination between actual grievance and hollow com- 
phiint. The question is being examined into wiih all the astuteness 
that the affliction of the country demands. It will soon be known 
whether the American mind, as well as that of other nations, can dis- 
criminate between revolution based on a struggle to throw off oppres- 
sion, and rank rebellion, based on the motives to opening and legiti- 
mating the Afiican slave trade. Take away this foul project, and the 
clamor of Disunion will abate of its own accord. 

Let the country know the nature and weakness of this African slave- 
trade influence, and the people will soon learn to regard the strength of 
Disunion in its true light. We are to have no Disunion, amounting to 
practical separation, for the reason, that no practical motive for it exists 
in any part of the United States. People may as well go about their 
l)usiness, with the fact fixed in their minds, that we are to have stable 
government. They need not give way to the bugbear, that this mighty 
fabric of nationality is to be broken up through the influence of a few 
abolitionists on the one hand, and a kidnapping strength on the other; 
nor by misapprehension manufactured for party purposes, and having 
aims built upon the desire for ofiice. The people cannot aff'ord it; nor, 
will the governing power of the country allow it, north or souTif, 

A few plain words with regard to party organization : — An old dem- 
crat is now compelled to acknowledge that the party to Avhich he ever 
belonged (until ejected by the African slave-trade influence) had become 
incompetent to govern the countiy.. The cause of distraction in the 
party, and irreconcilable hatred of its parts towards each other, has been 
this same African slave-trade project, and the opposition, in the party, 
to it. To speak in a pickwickian sense, without meaning disrespect, 
Mr. Douglas and some others have "eaten dirt," in their endeavois to 
conciliate it. That Mr. Douglas finished his last repast with a dessert 
of rotten eggs, might have been a little astonishing to himself, though 
St would not have been so to some others more conversant with its 

LofC. 



28 

tactics. He fonnd the tenacity for adhering to this delusion mnch 
stronger, than its opposition to the election of Mr. Lincoln. In fact, Mr. 
Lincoln's election was desired by the African trade politicians in the 
cotton States, in order that it might he made aa effective pretense for 
breaking up the Union. .Under those circumstances, how would it have 
been possible for the Democratic Party to have harmonized on any line 
of policy. The kidnapping influence has had, at least, half possession of 
Mr. Buchanan. The world is now debating, whether he is more an 
object of scorn or pity. Had the opposition to the Republican Party 
succeeded, on what basis could harmony have been secured, except by 
encouracring the African slave trade "in the Union?" A candid con- 
templation cannot fail to convince the American people, that the Demo- 
ciatic Party, temporarily, at least, was too much out of joint for any 
eflFective purpose in the administration of the government. 

"What will the Republican Pany do?" is a question that is often 
asked. The writer can answer on one point. It will be a unit on the 
subject of the African slave trade. It will co-operate with the democracy 
in pursuing that project " in the Union " — " out of the Union " — on the 
coast of Africa, Cuba, Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico, or elsewhere, with 
all the power of extinction at the command of the government. Either 
its manhood is mistaken, or it will make no truce; encourage no nego- 
tiation ; make no promise to that portion of population, hitherto called 
American citizens, but who propose to take themselves out of the pale 
of civilization. How longtime it will require to lop off this excrescence 
of the Democratic Party, so as to enable it to harmonize, and to fit it for 
governing, is a liitlc conjectural. Perhai s four years will prove suffi- 
cient. When it is done, the counsel employed to take the appeal for 
•' the reversal of public opinion," may proceed to move for the decree. 
Not bJire. Cosmopolitan. 



54 « 



^-,/ 



,4.^ 










•0^ ..i'4^;--. " 




=o >'..'^*',-* 



■ ^ 




>, 



'■?'-. <• 



^ A % J. • • • • 





V o'-'-^^^ 



ii'.!!!"i; 



